catch up!

I did a lot of catching up tonight.  Unfortunately I still have several things to catch up on, but for now check it out...

Olivia's Quilt

I finished Olivia's baby quilt awhile ago but have never taken pictures.  Finally, here it is.  I love how it turned out!  I felt a little nervous at the beginning since there are so many patterns and colors but I'm so happy with how it all came together.  My sister in law Camie is the master quilter and I'm an amateur so she guided me along each step.  It was a fun project to check in with her on as I went.  The grey has a beautiful feminine paisley that I love.  I had sewed a rosette for the center of each pinwheel which is the perfect final touch in my opinion.  

 Owen wanted in on the picture action.  Turns out, I love this picture because I don't have many pictures of me with both my babies.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

In preparation for Mom and Dad to come visit we had an FHE on missionaries since they're getting ready to leave on a mission.  I think I have a set of pretty cute missionaries!

Jodi and Tanner in town

Ryan's sister and nephew, Jodi and Tanner, were in town for a basketball tournament several weeks ago.  I'm not sure how we got so lucky for them to come to Minneapolis but we're sure glad they did!  It was so fun to see them!  We loved watching Tanner play basketball and loved visiting with Jodi.  We went to dinner with them the Friday night they were here and watched two games on Saturday.  Of course we loved watching Tanner play ball, but it was also so fun to just sit and talk with Jodi.  She's an amazing woman and I have a lot to learn from her.  

Owen obviously watched Tanner play basketball very intently because he's been shooting hoops like crazy ever since.  Our favorite is that he now "takes a charge" just like Tanner.  He'll go to shoot and fall down as he does.  He'll lay on the ground until we come over and help him up and tell him he's playing a good game, just like Tanner's teammates did.  It's pretty cute!

It was fun introducing Olivia to them for the first time.  

So Sweet

Owen is so sweet with Olivia.  Sure, he has his moments I need to remind him to be gentle, but overall he is so sweet to her.  Just recently I've noticed him take even more interest in her.  When she wakes up from her naps he loves to open the door and turn the light on.  As soon as he comes in she calms down and will just lay there while he entertains her.  Just today she was crying as she woke up from her nap.  Owen did just as I described.  I hadn't heard her for a good ten minutes.  When I finally went in to get her out of her crib she was still completely wrapped up but was completely content watching Owen.  She is very aware of him.  Even at such a young stage I'm already noticing their sibling interactions and I love it.  

Here is Owen taking good notes from Dad and taking care of his baby doll.

Happy Birthday Alisa

While in KC I celebrated my 29th birthday.  I have to admit, I'm not ready to leave my 20s.  I've loved my 20s, so coming into the last year was not welcomed.  But what was welcomed was the amazing day I had!  I had low expectations since we were traveling and I have to say, to my delight Ryan went above and beyond and made it such a special birthday.  Again, I'm bummed I left my camera at home because I hardly documented the great day it was.  I woke up to a full course breakfast Ryan had organized with Cynthia.  Wow, it was amazing!  Waffles, fruit, omelets, juice, and more!  Everyone, including the Cockriels college and high school boys who hardly know me but were so sweet to oblige, went around and told me why they loved me.  Then Cynthia was so kind to take family pictures of us.  They turned out beautifully.  I can't wait to share them soon.  Of course, we went to the temple, visited friends, and then went to BBQ dinner with Janelle and Keith that evening.  After dinner we came home and I was surprised again with root beer floats and these amazing beautiful cupcakes.  Like I said, Ryan outdid himself.  It meant so much though.  Here's to my last year in my 20s!

Kansas City!

Oh Boy!  I'm going way back now.  I try really hard to keep up on my blog, but let's be real, I'm slacking.  Here I go, trying to update...

In April we went to Kansas City to go to the temple open house of a new temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I grew up in KC so it was a special event for me.  For some reason ever since the temple was announced a few years ago I knew I needed to go back and be apart of the open house.  I'm so glad we went!  It was a wonderful weekend!  

The kids did awesome traveling, couldn't have asked for better.  We stayed with our dear friend the Cockriels.  Cynthia was a young woman's leader to me when I was in high school and someone I still consider a dear friend.  She was and continues to be a very influential person in my life.  They were so gracious and kind while we stayed with them.  I love any chance to sit and visit with them.  Thankfully we had time in the evenings to do just that.  I wish so bad I took some pictures with them.  Unfortunately I left my camera at home so the only shots I have are via cell phone anyway.

As soon as we got into town we went to Ryan and Kali Ponders home for dinner.  They were so sweet to invite us for dinner (actually, we kind of invited ourselves since the only time we could stop in to see them happened to be right at dinner time.  Ooops!)  We really enjoy being able to catch up with them and are thankful they're always opening their home to us for a visit. 

I invited my best friend from high school, Lindsay, and her family to come to the temple with us.  I'm so thankful they came.  The temple is very important to me so it meant a lot that they came to be apart of that with me.  It was so good to see Lindsay.  We went out for dessert one night while we were in town, just the two of us.  That was definitely a highlight of my trip.  I loved being able to just sit and catch up with Lindsay.  She and I are so different in some ways and yet there are things at our core that bring us together.  Spending that evening with her made me wish I had more chances to get together with her.  It was fun to see Lindsay as  mom.  This was my first time meeting her baby girl, Bryn.  What a cutie!  And Lindsay and Matt are such a great parents. 

The temple was beautiful!  And I love its location.  What a beautiful area and you can see it right off the highway.  It would be fun to go back again someday, just me and Ryan. 

I also got to see Miss Heidi Russell.  Heidi is my dear friend, Holly Orgill's sister.  I met Heidi at Holly's wedding but feel like I know her well.  She's an amazingly talented, wonderfully warm person. If you knew her you'd know what I mean, but she makes you feel like the most important person in the world when you're with her.  She recently moved to KC so it was such a treat to be in her home.  Someday I look forward to spending time with Heidi one on one to finally really get to know her:)

And of course, we were so lucky to see Janelle and Keith while we were there.  We purposely planned to be at the temple open house the same weekend as them.  We didn't get to stay at the same places this trip, but I think it all worked out well.  We spent whatever extra kind of time we had with them but still got to see anyone else we planned to see.  We went to the open house together and then spent the rest of that Saturday with them.  We enjoyed hanging out at the Cockriel's home, going out for some good old KC BBQ (Oklahoma Joes), and enjoying some birthday cake and ice cream.  We love spending time with the Willis'.  

On Sunday we got up and went to church with the Cockriels in my home ward.  It's changed so much since I lived there, and yet there are so many dear friends and familiar faces still there.  It's always fun to go back to visit. 

I really wanted to go to KC all along but when it came down to actually making the trip I was dragging my feet a little bit.  I have to say, it turned out to be well worth the trip.  It was a very special weekend for us.  

On the trip to KC.  Olivia gave us some of her first smiles.  Owen and I had fun entertaining ourselves.  

 Can't believe this is the only picture I took at the temple, but it's a good one!  Me, Olivia, Lindsay, Bryn.

 Me and Heidi

 Me, Heidi, Janelle

 BBQ time.

Mother's Day

 It was fun to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom this year!  I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of all of us mommas, but looks like I captured the real important things, the food scene!  We enjoyed a nice day at church (Olivia's blessing day), and an evening with Matt and Camie, Amy and Andy and families, and Mom and Dad.  We had a delicious dinner, good visiting, and a nice Sunday walk.

I am so thankful for my Mom.  What an amazing woman she is!  If I can be half the mom she is I think I'll be doing well.  If you know my mom you know how true that is.

 Everyone was (is always) amazed at how much meat Ryan had on his plate.  And, let's be honest, this was only the first serving.

Home Depot

 We went to Home Depot this past Saturday for their kids workshop.  We all had so much fun and I think we'll be back for future workshops.  It was very cute.  Owen got to pick out which project he wanted to build, he got an apron, and a pin to put on his apron for his completed project.  Owen chose a tool box to build.  What a fun family outing!

3 months

Wow!  I have a lot to update, including a trip to KC, my birthday, Ryan's sister and nephew visiting MN, my parents coming to town, mother's day, Olivia's blessing, and many miscellaneous pictures that must be included in our family journal.  But for now, even if nothing else gets blogged tonight I must at least document the fact the Olivia is 3 months old today!  Where does the time go?  And yet, it seems like she's been around much longer than that.  Weird how that works.

I love this girl.  A lot.  We're blessed to have her in our family.  I love that when I go in to get her up from a nap she now gets the biggest smile on her face when I get close and talk to her.  She must, in some way, feel a connection to me the way I feel a connection to her.  I love to think that she does and am thankful for that.

While my parents were here recently I asked them if they think children ever really understand how much their parents love them.  Funny that I, their daughter, was the one asking them.  I feel so much love from my parents, and yet, knowing how I feel about my babies, maybe I don't totally comprehend how much they love us, their children.  I'm not sure, at least now, my kiddies really know how much I love them.  Gosh, there are hard days, right?  But sincerely, I'm totally in love with Owen and Olivia.

Even though Olivia doesn't interact a ton yet, it's been fun recently to watch Owen and Olivia together. Just last week I caught Owen laying right next to Olivia playing cars with her.  He gave her a couple, he had a couple, and he went on playing as though she were as involved as he was in the play.  Owen loves holding Olivia's hand, and his recent favorite thing is to help her roll over.  That one gets a little hairy sometimes, but he means well.  When Olivia "talks" or does something Owen thinks is funny he'll say, "Oh Liv!" in the cutest sweetest way.  Or if she's crying he'll say, "K Liv? (You Ok Liv?)"  I love it.

Happy 3 months Olivia!

Beachin' it

We spent this morning at the lake playing in the sad and water. What a great Friday morning!

10 Weeks

Olivia is 10 weeks old today!  She had her 2 month appointment yesterday and weighed in at 13.4 lbs (75th %) and is 24.5 inches (97th %).  She hadn't had any shots up until now so had lots of shots at the doctor's which made for a very sad girl yesterday.  Olivia is a sweet easy going baby and I don't think I've ever heard her cry like she did getting her shots except for when she was born.  She's a healthy girl which we always love to hear!

This baby girl has been smiling and cooing all weekend. I love it! Owen always says, "liv's talkin'".

8 Weeks

Holy C'moly! Olivia is 8 weeks old! (yesterday)

• She is finally over her terrible baby acne. No really, it was bad! Poor baby girl had it all over her entire head/face and down her chest and shoulders, and back. Luckily she didn't know the difference.
• She is smiling a lot which is a just adorable!
• She has gone one full week of sleeping through the night! Thank you Liv! What a difference a full night's sleep makes.
• I love having a little side kick around. Owen has been Ryan's for the last two years, so it's fun to think I now have my little girlfriend side kick.

A Picture Tells a Thousand Words

Ok, just a couple words from me: This boy is pretty obsessed with his Daddy. No, really.

Owen lately...

Even though this picture is so blurry, I love it enough to document it. With Olivia around I feel like I don't "see" Owen as much. Even when Ryan is around I'm usually the one holding her, taking care of her, and feeding her. I always worry that Owen feels like I ditched him. Owen is so attached to Ryan that when Ryan is home Owen is typically with him. I love this picturing capturing a moment where it was just me and Owen. I hope these moments will stick in his mind and heart because they are precious moments to me. I'm thankful Ryan thought to snap this picture.

Doing a little finger painting.
Owen wanted to wear my earrings so I hooked some hoops over his ears.
In all his shopping cart glory.

These are a few misc pictures of Owen as of late. I do love this boy so much. Sometimes I pray that he'll still know how much I love him even when I get frustrated with him. He's so sweet to Olivia. Whenever she wakes up he immediately says, "Hi Liv!" in the cutest most genuine voice. When she cries he says, "It's ok Liv. It's ok Liv." Very sweet.

It's funny how before Olivia was born Owen was my baby. Now with Liv here I realize that sometimes I expect him to be more grown up now than he actually is, but on the other hand I've also realized that sometimes I babied him way more than I needed to. He's capable of things that I sometimes hardly let him even try because "he was my baby". For example, I NEVER let him use the little shopping cart at the grocery store. Now that I have Olivia taking up the whole seat of my shopping cart with her carseat I've had Owen push the little shopping cart and you know what? He can do it! Ok, sometimes I have to remind him of the rules of using the little shopping cart, but really, overall he does a great job! And, he loves it!

I love that most mornings Owen ends up in my bathroom with me while I get ready. He wants to "put on his makeup" right along with me and wonders in and out playing while I get ready.

My favorite moments with Owen are when he and I really get laughing together about something. Not just me "laughing" at something cute he's doing, but when I am genuinely laughing along with him.